Anne W. Cissel
Whether operating
under the name The
Thurmont Marble &
Granite Co., Hammaker
Bros. or the current
R.S. Kinnaird
Memorials, the master
stonecutters of
Thurmont have
practiced their craft
and artistry for over
120 years at the same
site.
"The Marble Yard" was
first established on
Boundary and Church
Streets by 22 year old
Peter N. Hammaker in
1880 when he moved his
small monument
business fromits
original quarters on
Water Street to this
location. Peter had
built a new brick
residence the year
before; the workshops
for his business were
located behind his new
home. But in good
weather, it was common
to see his employees
carving, and polishing
the marble and granite
gravestones,
mantlepieces or
colonnades out in the
side yard.
The Hammaker name
became known for
quality, so that he
was chosen for several
important public
commissions, including
a Mason-Dixon marker
at Blue Ridge Summit
in 1902 and the
Alabama Confederacy
Monument for the
Gettysburg Battlefield
in 1907. Later the
company would open
several branches
including one at
Gettysburg.
After Mr. Hammaker's
tragic death in 1925
(as recalled in the
Scrapbook column "The
Hot Zone House") his
nephews Ernest and
Frank Hammaker
operated the company.
By the 1970's they
employed 25 or more
employees. One of
these skilled artists
in stone Robert S.
Kinnaird of Aberdeen,
Scotland had answered
an ad in a 1959 trade
magazine and came to
America to join the
firm. Mr. Kinnaird
came from a family of
stone workers in
Aberdeen which was
nicknamed The Granite
City.
In 1976 Mr. Kinnaird
bought Hammaker Bros,
and with his son John
continued to maintain
the standards of
skillful, quality
workmanship. The
Kinnaird 's work is
represented at
Antietam,
the Grotto of
Lourdes and
Arlington National
Cemetery to name a
few. But the products
of these Thurmont
artisens stretch many
miles beyond the
mid-Atlantic. A worked
stone from our own
Hunting Creek was
incorporated as a
building block in the
Anwar Sadat Memorial
in Egypt --symbolizing
the Camp David
Accords. Even further
a field, John
Kinnaird's 3-panel
memorial of blue and
grey granite marking
the decisive World War
II Battle of Midway is
located over 6,000
miles away on that
small island in the
Pacific.
Today computers aid
the design and ability
to personalize
portraits or scenes on
gravestones and
decorative objects in
glass, redwood or
synthetic materials.
Peter Hammaker would
be astounded at the
labor-saving tools now
used, but he would be
pleased that a new
generation of
Kinnairds is learning
the trade/craft to
continue the tradition
of Thurmont's "Marble
Yard".
If you have any Information or
historical news clippings on
business in
the Thurmont Area, Please send them to us so we can
included them in our archives. E-mail us at:
history@mythurmont.net
Read more articles by
Anne Cissel